Mounting means for rotatable drums



41 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 15, 1957 ll cllu Oct. 28, 1958 R. N.BIRDSALL MOUNTING MEANS FOR ROTATABLE DRUMS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April15, 1957 Oct. 28, 1958 R. N. BIRDSALL MOUNTING MEANS FOR ROTATABLE DRUMS4 Shets-Sheet :5

Filed April 15, 1957 1958 R. N. BIRDSALL 2,35

MOUNTING MEANS FOR ROTATABLE DRUMS Filed April 15, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.AJL Hllji I111 a2 5:

United States Patent O 'MOUN TIN G MEANS FORROTATABLE DRUMS Robert NBirdsall, Elyiia, hio, assignor to Link-Belt Company, a.corporationuflllinois Application April 15, 1957, Sei'ial'No.652,908

l Clair'n. (Cl. 308-203) This invention relates to new and .usefulimprove- :ments in apparatus for rotatably supporting generally*horizontally arranged cylindrical drums .or kilns and deals more"particularly with antifriction .trunnions1for rotatably mounting suchbodies.

Trunnionsfor supporting drums of all typesrforrrotation about horizontalor substantially horizontal axes "should provideaminimumof frictionalresistancetorotation of'the drum. Further, the weight of each drum andits contents should be distributed as uniformly as possible on thetrunnions to minimize wear, vibration and maintenance problems. Anadditional design feature to be considered-is theability'toadjust'the'trunnions't-o quickly and-easily align the drum intitsdesired position.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide apparatus forsupporting a drum, or the like, for .ro-

tation about -a-substantially horizontal'axis withza minimum"of'frictional resistance between the supporting apparatus and the drum.t

A further important objechof the inventionvis to provide apparatus forrotatably supporting a "drum, or-the like, with the weight of the drumand its contents soIdistribute'd as to prevent excessively'large loadson any partof the support apparatus.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide apparatusfor supporting a rotatable drum by rolling frictional engagementtherewith, the apparatus being quickly and easily adjustable int-oproperirelation- '2-'2 of Fig. 1 and illustratingone of the supportingassemblies for the drum,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2 and showingthe supporting assembly in top plan,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 2,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 2,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 2, and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 7--7 of Fig.2.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is showntheprefered embodiment of the invention, and first particularly referringto Fig. 1, there is shown a cylindrical drum 8 that is supported forrotation about a slightly inclined axis by two longitudinally spacedtrunnion assemblies 9 and 11 which engage circumferentially extendingtires 12 and 13 mounted on the drum.

Rotation is imparted to the drum 8 by a drive motor =tioned-with a tire:12 'res'tington its rollers r32,ntheouter 114 which acts through agearitypecspeed reduction unit 15 and drive chain 16. .Thedrive chain:16 is supported for movement in meshing relationship with .the teeth ofarsegmental ring gear .17 thatextends .circumferen tially around thecylindricaldrum :8.

Referring now to Figs..2 and 3irfor. adetailfdescription of one of thetrunnion assemblies,.ittwill be seen that the base thereofincludes'apair of spaced: parallel beams .18 and .19 which are arranged.to extend beneath and transversely of the drum 8. The opposite ends.ofthe beams 18 and 19-are connected to the longitudinally extendingstringers 20 which.lie'heneathandnn opposite side portions ofthe .drum8. .Atxthe opposite end portions of each'beam 18 and '19,therecarerprovided hearing blocks 21 which rest upon .theupperzsurfaceof their associated beam and are Lsecured :thereto .bybolts .22 which extendthrough mountingpads 23 ofthe bearing blocks andthroughslots 24inttheiuppefflanges .ofzthe beam. The bearing blocks 21at corresponding ends of the two beams 18 and .19tareaxially #alignedandtheir positions may be adjusted longitudinally of the beams 18 and 19to the extent permitted by movement .of the bolts 22 in the slots 24....Adjustmentof the blocks-21 longitudinally of the beams :18and1-91isiaccomplished by first loosening the bolts 22.1.for movementinitheslots 24 and bythen rotating the take+up :bolts 25, which .are threadedthrough abutments 126, into engagement with the outer sides of the.bearingblocks. The vbolts 22are thereafter tightened to retain:theblocks 121-in their positions of adjustment.

Journaled in the aligned bearingiblocks .21 :atcorrespon'ding endportions of thebeamsr18 and19 are shafts 27 whichspan thespace betweentheir associated bearingblocks, as illustrated in Figs. 5 :and 6. Eachshaft 27 has mounted thereon a guide member 28 for pivotal movementabout an axis parallelingxthatof the drum 8. Each .of the two guidemembers "28 (has an arcuately formed upper guide surface 29,the'radiusofcurvature of which exceeds that Of thetire 12 by apredetermined amount, as will be later described. The two guide.surfaces 29 lie beneathand on opposite :sidesof the axis ofthe drum 8and extend circumferentiallyiof the'tire 12. At each edge portionofeachtguide surface29 there is provided a-guide flange .31 aslillustrate'din Figs 3, 5 and 7. Each flange 31 is continuous.throughtamajor portion of the length of theassociated:guidesurface 29'being interrupted only. at "the center .porti'on of the latter,

see Fig. 3.

Extending around each guide me'mber .28is .auseries of rollers 32 whichare connected -by side 'bars 33 ;and

chain pins 33a to provide an endless chain. Each'. roller 32 hasadiameter equal to 'thedifference'betweemthe radii' of curvature of itsassociated tire t12i'and guide surface 29. In other words, when thedtum;8 i iposisurface of the tire and the guide surface 29 will lie inspaced concentric relationship with each other and the rollers 32 willbe arranged for movement between and in engagement with such opposedsurfaces as the drum is rotated. Since the guide members 28 are free topartake of pivotal movement about the axes of their associated shafts27, the limited adjustment of the bearing blocks 21 longitudinally oftheir associated beams 18 and 19 will not alter the concentricrelationship between the guide surface 29 and the outer surface of thetire 12. Further, since the rollers 32 are not journaled for rotationabout a fixed axis but are free to move through the space between theopposed guide surface 29 and tire 12, frictional forces tending toresist rotation of the drum 8 will be reduced to an absolute minimum.

On each chain pin 33a is rotatably mounted a roller 32 which has abearing bore a few thousandths of an inch larger than its pin to havesome tolerance or radial play thereon. There is also a similar toleranceallowed between the side bar openings and the chain pins and between theends of the rollers and the adjacent faces of the inside side bars ofthe'links to allow for a substantial amount of transverse flexibilitywhereby, as seen in Figs. 1 and 6, the lower, or inactive, runs of thesechains, during their free travel beneath their transversely tilted guidemembers, will flex into vertical planes. This affords greaterflexibility and ease of adaptability .to surfaces contacted, withoutgalling or gouging the 37 at one side of the beam 19. Further, thediameter of the roller 34 is such that it periphery will engage the sideof the tire 12 when the tire is radially aligned with and supported bythe rollers 32.

The thrust roller 35 is mounted for rotation on a stub shaft 38 carriedby a bracket assembly 39 which rests upon and is connected to thetransverse beam 18. The periphery of the thrust roller 35 is arranged soas to provide a small clearance between it and the side of the tire 12opposite the point of engagement between the roller 34 and the tire. Thetire 12, therefore, moves between the two thrust rollers 34 and 35 whenthe drum 8 is rotated and engagement between the thrust rollers and tirewill prevent any substantial axial movement of the drum on thesupporting trunnion assemblie 9 and Mounted on the stringer 20 adjacentthe opposite ends of the beams 18 and 19 are a pair of housing members41 which substantially enclose the outer ends of the two guide members28 and their associated chains of rollers 32. By reference to Fig. 2, itwill be seen that one of the housing members 41 has mounted thereon apiece of flexible material 42 which is adjustable into engagement withthe tire 12 for removing any foreign mapermit, the guide members to.adjust themselves to, any irregularities in the drum 8 or tire 12 sothat at least two rollers 32 on each guide surface 29 will engage andsupport the tire 12. It will also be apparent that adjust ment of thetwo guide member 28 toward or away from each other in the mannerdescribed above, will permit very accurate distribution of the weight ofthe drum and its contents on the trunnion assemblies 9 and It is to beunderstood that the form of this invention herewith shown anddescribed'is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to wtihout departingvfrom the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention I claim:

Apparatus for rotatably supporting a substantially horizontally arrangedcylindrical drum, comprising an annular tire mounted on and extendingcircumferentially around said drum, a pair-.of elongated integral guidemembers radially aligned with said tire and disposed beneath said drumon opposite sides of the vertical plane passing through the drum axis soas to be spaced circumferentially of said drum, each of said guidemembers having the upper peripheral portion thereof formed to provide anarcuately curved guide surface with a radius of curvature greater thanthat of said tire and guide flanges extending upwardly from oppositesides of said guide surface, means supporting each of said guide membersfor pivotal movement in the plane of said tire, said means including ashaft passing through the middle portion of the guide member andprotruding outwardly from the opposite sides thereof in parallelrelationship with the drum axis, and a bearing mounted on each side ofthe guide member in journaled relationship vwith the outwardlyprotruding portions of said shaft, an endless roller chain trainedaround the periphery of each guide member and between the guide flangesthereof .for movement between the guide surface of said guide member andsaid tire, each roller of said chain having a diameter equal to thedifference between the radii of curvature of said tire and said guidesurface,

- means for adjusting the position of each bearing horiterial therefrombefore the tire is moved into engagement wtih the rollers 32.

Considering now the manner in which the trunnion assemblies 9 and 11support the drum 8 with a minimum of frictional resistance to rotationof the drum, it will be readily apparent that the use of freely movablerollers 32 will completely eliminate any sliding engagement between thedrum and its supports and that the pure rolling friction between therollers and drum will provide the least possible frictional resistanceto the rotation of the drum. Further, pivotal mounting of the guidemembers 28 upon which the rollers 32 move will zontally transversely ofthe drum axis to enable vertical and lateral adjustment of said drumaxis by positioning the guide members supportedby said bearings, and apair of thrust rollers mounted for rotation on opposite sides of saidtire to prevent substantial axial movement of the drum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS750,051 Geiger Jan. 19, 1904 798,886 Dornfeld Sept. 5, 1905 2,336,417Petersen Dec. 7,1943 2,793,920 Haaff May 28, 1957

